Benefits of a Wii workout

From the frontiers of science this week - or more accurately from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center - comes the revelation that if your child plays active video games, he or she will burn more calories than by sitting on the sofa. This breakthrough will come as a shock to all fat, lazy children, but possibly not to anyone else outside the University of Oklahoma.

In detail: for little porkers aged between 10 and 13, Wii Boxing or Dance Dance Revolution Level 2 raises the heart rate to the same level as walking at 3.5mph. The only advantages for walking are that you don't have to buy a games console to do it, and it gets you somewhere.

For children who already own a Wii, the obvious solution is a small, motorised platform to get them to their destination while they play Dance Dance Revolution.

Nintendo: take note.